Chapter 7 – Shocking revelations
Hogwarts Express slowed down and stopped at the platform. Students in the train woke up from lethargy and flurried in activity. Not Harry though. He was feeling a bit drowsy and lethargic after a brief rest. There was a lot of pushing around and shouting outside their cubicle. It looked horrible. Harry kept cool facade and masked his emotions as there was no reason for him to hurry anywhere. He was slightly nervous, despite his experience, but stayed sitting on his seat. Hagrid wouldn't leave without them even if they were a few minutes late.
"Let's go!" shouted Hermione bravely and pushed herself out into the fray, spearing the way. She was way too excited for Harry, but he wouldn't really fault her for that. Megan jumped right behind her, leaving Harry alone with Neville. Harry wondered how exactly the elves knew which luggage is who's when hauling it to their dorms later. He should ask them one day.
"Let's wait for a moment until things calm down. What do you say?" asked Harry.
"Sure." answered Neville slowly, looking at his feet and holding Trevor in a death grip. He looked like he didn't want to leave the train at all, not just right now.
They both waited a while until most of the students cleared aisle and only a few people were left on the train. Harry had an easy time getting out, it was remarkable what a difference one or two minutes could do. Harry, together with Neville, pooled on the platform, seeing most of the student body already leaving it. Some of the smaller students were concentrating around a huge figure at the center of the platform. Harry heard a familiar voice:
"Firs' years! All firs' years over here!" shouted Hagrid to everyone around. He was standing out on the platform full of kids like a mountain. Hagrid could be easily heard past all the other noises, outshouting everyone else's voices. It was nostalgic to see him again after all this time, but Harry kept himself from acting. No need for him to reveal himself before the sorting.
Hagrid behaved like he was trying to spot someone among the people on the platform and Harry was sure that he was looking for him, so he kept his head down, was silent and did not draw attention. As more and more first years gathered around their guide, Harry noticed 2 older years standing close by. Both of them with a P badge. Why were prefects here? It wasn't something Harry encountered the first time around. What changed and why?
Two girls stood there, one looking more bored than the other. First girl with red colored trim on a robe, the other with blue. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and if he remembered right, the one from Ravenclaw was Penelope Clearwater. Both of them were dispassionately waving and weaving their wands around. Harry noticed something materializing above his head. It was a large, blue and wispy number 32, and Neville had 33 above him. The spell would look much cooler if they did not use it for such a mundane reason. They were clearly counting them. Harry waited patiently until all 40 of them were accounted for.
"Ehm. Yes. T's everyone. Thank you, Penny and Paige." loudly mumbled Hagrid, still looking a bit unconvinced, eyeing everyone around him. It was to be expected. Harry was sure Hagrid got orders from Dumbledore to look for him. All the other first years were restless and whispered among themselves in hushed voices. For 11 years old children who didn't know him, he could look scary after all.
"No problem. You sure that you don't need me to watch over them with you?" asked Penny dutifully while Paige was already walking away without care.
"Don't worry. I'll manage." answered Hagrid, yet Harry hardly noticed his powerful voice. He was staring at the last guy to arrive. What was strange about that unpleasant Slytherin boy Nott was not his attitude or girlish face, but a floating number 41. That wasn't right. There were only 40 students in his first year. Harry might not know every single name of his classmates, but he was 100% positive there should be only 40 students. Something wasn't adding up, something was wrong.
"If you say so, Hagrid. Enjoy the ride, kids!" She smiled and waved at them with her hand, dispelling their floating numbers. They were the only ones left at the platform, except for a very few stragglers. Penny faded away from platform too, hurrying toward the carriages with the latecomers.
How did this happen? He hasn't interacted with anyone important just yet. How could he influence the number of students? He hasn't met or spoke to Dumbledore or McGonagall yet. That made little sense. Could an extra student pop out of nowhere? Harry spent considerable time lost inside his mind, trying to figure it out, but founding nothing to warrant this change. He hasn't even noticed that their group arrived at the lake.
"No more than 4 people to the boat!" boomed Hagrid, loud as ever. Harry sat together with Neville and recognized Padma and Parvati Patil, joining them soon after. In fact, he couldn't differentiate them from each other, especially when donning identical robes. Megan was off somewhere else and Hermione sat in the next boat. Frankly, he realized too late that both girls weren't with him since the train stopped. Hagrid took his umbrella, swished with it and soon they were all moving into the interior of the lake.
"Wow, how is the boat propelled? Who controls it?" asked Hermione, already curious about how it moved. If Harry had to guess, runes? He was fairly sure that Hagrid's broken wand couldn't guide all of their boats this smoothly or at all. The only answer she got was silence.
Hagrid either didn't hear her or ignored her question as their boats glided on the calm surface of the water. The sight of the castle was beautiful in the evening hour and many children seems taken by the sight, drawing various comments from them. Harry could only chuckle at the sight of Patil twins hanging out with open mouths. It was a shame that Harry no longer saw the castle this way. It was a cold, damp place that endangered his life practically every year. On the other hand, it was magical and wonderful. For all its bright moments and positive memories, everything he experienced there was shadowed by the bad ones. It still beat living with Dursleys any day despite its problems.
The ride in the boats was relatively short and soon they were all hopping from them into a shore right next to the castle. Hagrid led them through a massive door entrance to the inside where a tall, black-haired woman stood regally, wearing green robes.
"First years. This is Professor McGonagall." introduced Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." she nods at the groundskeeper and he walks away. Harry had a mixed feeling seeing his old head of house and deputy headmistress. She was good to students, protecting them when she could. Stern and strict as a teacher, always teaching transfiguration well, but her other duties were quite lacking. She hardly ever had a time for her Gryffindor students as head of house and too often dismissed Harry's worries, especially in his younger years. What she did as a deputy was anyone's guess. She never reigned Snape's behavior for one. But then again, that bastard was protected by Dumbledore, so she likely couldn't. Still, despite her flaws, Harry respected her. At least as a person and a teacher.
While reminiscing, all the first years neatly moved toward gigantic hall, urged by McGonagall herself. She gave them a speech in one of the adjacent rooms and asked to wait until called. McGonagall likely reveled in making youngsters squirm, leaving them alone and in uncertainty. He wouldn't really put it past her.
They waited for the signal to enter. For the first time since the train, Harry noticed Ron. Ron started whole debate on the theme 'How do they sort us?' with his comment on the troll. He recognized Hermione's voice joining that discussion as well, but didn't really care enough about the topic to listen. Malfoy sprouted something about Potter being no-show, but he ignored that ponce, too.
Harry monitored the appearance of ghosts, but curiously, they only flew by with no discussion. Most of the students hadn't even noticed them, looking at the different parts of the room. Something definitely changed. It was all minor differences so far, but Harry knew he would not be able to count on his past knowledge of the future for long, maybe not at all. Soon McGonagall was back and started instructing them.
"Now, form a line and follow me." Professor McGonagall told the first years.
"In orderly fashion." added sternly when they all grouped haphazardly after her.
"The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." she finished as she lead them out.
They finally entered the Hall, lit by a thousand floating candles, filled by many students and teachers. McGonagall stopped the parade in the middle of the room, as they were observed from every direction. Many ghosts already floated around.
"The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." he heard Hermione explaining close to him. Harry hasn't bothered to look up, although he could remember that exact line from Hermione and smiled reminiscing about the past.
He was sweeping his sight to the teachers. As far as he was looking, no change in staff. All the people he expected were there, even Quirrell. He would have to deal with him soon. So far, no trouble with his scar. On that note, no one discovered his disguise yet. He would have to pay attention to when and if he noticed someone staring, be it Quirrell, Snape or Dumbledore. He doubted anyone else was that obsessed about him than these three.
Harry quickly set down his gaze on McGonagall as she prepared a stool with an old pointed hat. Interestingly enough, Dumbledore hadn't been sweeping his gaze on the new students, but that meant practically nothing. He wouldn't been caught being blatantly obvious in his interest to find where Harry was, he was sure of it. Harry instead listened halfheartedly to the song the Hat singed about, thinking more about his own sorting. Would he make it into Gryffindor again? He had many years past his first sorting, so he couldn't be sure what the hat would do. It sent him into Gryffindor the first time when he denied being placed in Slytherin, but would he do it again now when he could read Harry's memories of that time?
When the Hat finished singing, McGonagall started calling first years one by one. He saw Hannah and Susan being sorted in Hufflepuff, so no change there. The sorting went on and there were many he recognized and some which he didn't. That would make finding that extra person harder.
He noted several people he knew decently from Dumbledore's army. Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein went into Ravenclaw. Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan into Gryffindor and Justin Finch-Fletchley to Hufflepuff.
Hermione's time on the stool was longer than anyone before her. Students stirred and whisper a bit, but eventually she was sorted into Gryffindor again. Harry wondered if some of his comments could be a cause, but wasn't sure about it.
Megan went into Hufflepuff after a fraction of the time it took the Hat to sort Hermione. Neville also spent some time there, but it wasn't nearly as long as Hermione and he went to Gryffindor as well. All the other people seemingly went where Harry expected.
That, however, hasn't calmed him at all. Harry felt oddly nervous and called all his Occlumency training to show nothing outwardly. It was nearing his name, and he was afraid things would go sideways. The fact that there were 41 students threw him off his game. Now the list was already at Sally-Anne Perks, moving into Hufflepuff. Harry couldn't remember her at all, so he only kept attention on how close her surname was to his. He would be next for sure. While this was going on, Harry pocketed his pin from hair, letting his natural black color displace the red and rubbed off a concealer around his scar into a handkerchief. He was as ready as he could be.
"Potter Harry!" called out McGonagall. The room hummed with whispers as Harry proceed toward the stool. All the attention was on him, making him uncomfortable. He looked straight ahead and moved with short, purposeful steps, trying to appear calmer than he actually was. He paid no mind of gossiping and gawking student body or the teachers, as he took the Hat from McGonagall and placed it on his head. The noise gradually calmed down, and Harry heard a voice inside his head.
"Hmm. Interesting. I haven't had a delightful case like yours in a century at least." chuckled a small voice in his ear.
"It's not every day I have the pleasure to look into a mind of time traveler after all." continued the Hat.
'You aren't going to tell others, right?' questioned worryingly Harry in his mind. He was nearly sure the Hat wasn't able to do that, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"Oh no, have no fear, your secrets are safe with me, I'm unable to divulge personal information about my students." said the Hat jovially.
'That's good.' sighed Harry, feeling relief, even if he was expecting this outcome.
"Now where to place you? I see. This is going to be a difficult endeavor. In your previous sorting, my counterpart wanted to place you in Slytherin? Eh. Not a bad choice then, but quite unfitting for you right now." mused the Hat as Harry thought about his previous time on the stool.
'Why so? Not that I want to go there, but can you share the reason? What changed?' asked Harry. He was worried about this. The sorting was already off the rails.
"That's simple. You changed. You are the same child no longer. Where did your cleverness, resourcefulness, and cunning went? Where is your ambition, drive, your goal? And don't say getting rid of one wizard is all you aspire to be." admonished the Hat harshly as Harry's mind turned exactly on that particular goal.
"You are still very brave, but foolish. Many of your past actions were quite thoughtless. Even the recent ones. Is that what you want to be again? Pushing recklessly through by a sheer stubbornness and tenacity? Counting on your luck again?" asked the Hat pointedly.
'No.' answered Harry truthfully, even though he wanted to disagree. Despite pushing himself recently, for all the planning and things he changed, it felt lacking. He had made far too little progress. Was it not enough? Was he really that dumb? Always suffering from bad decisions?
"Hmm. I don't think your are unintelligent, but I think I can see the problem now. I need to look deeper still. Was there anything special before you were spirited back into your past, Harry?" asked the Hat.
Why would the Hat asked about that? And why so suddenly? What is it trying to lead Harry toward? He remembered recklessly chasing back to his camp to save Hermione when a likely case of lightning bolt engulfed him and brought back into a past. It was a vague recollection past the event itself, so he couldn't be sure.
"That's not what I want you to see. Dig deeper, was there something else before that?" asked the Hat.
Harry thought about the doe, his prior conversation with Hermione. About his restlessness. About the horcrux.
"Ah. You are getting close there, Harry. Think carefully about it." advised the Hat.
What did his situation have to do with horcrux? He already ruled out the horcrux, causing the time travel event. It had nothing to do with it, right? The Hat went silent, leaving him to his own thoughts. Could something happen with the horcrux? Where was it prior to that incident? Hermione had… No. Harry had the Locket around his neck. At the time, the lightning stroke him. Shit.
"Shit indeed. And that's your answer." calmly stated the Hat.
Could the Locket influence him somehow he hasn't foreseen? It was subtly manipulating both Harry, Hermione and even Ron for all that time they were with it. What if something from it went into the past with him? But then again, there was no convenient vessel for the horcrux to latch onto. He didn't see Slytherin's Locket around after all.
Hmm. No, that can't be. Realization hit him like a truck. There was no convenient item around, but someone was. Harry himself. Despair engulfed him. His scar that always had a connection with Voldemort. What if the Slytherin's Locket used that same connection and latched onto him directly? Does he have Voldemort's horcrux in his head now? Double shit.
"Now you see what I can. Finally found about your situation, eh? Harry, you can obviously discern how such a thing close to your brain could lead to several poor decisions." the Hat exclaimed. Harry readily agreed.
"While I would like you to sit and chat with me for longer, I cannot offer you advice on this matter, unfortunately. You sit here already nearly as long as miss Granger was. So before any problems arise, I shell continue with your sorting." spoke the Hat. Harry had no issue with it. He could always ask the Hat more questions later. His mind was still reeling with a new revelation. Was he even worse than that snake Voldy kept around? Could Voldemort enslave and control him now? Harry felt his entire body shiver. That it sucked balls was the understatement of the century. The Hat, in the meantime, had no mercy for him and hadn't waited for Harry to gather his wit.
"We already established your unsuitedness for Slytherin, although considering your circumstances, that could be only a temporary problem. I also don't believe Ravenclaw would fit you. You are curious and creative if you want to, but that is hardly enough to qualify. I could place you in the Gryffindor again. You have many traits suited for that house, but then again, that was the path already threaded once. I'm afraid that if I made that choice, it would cause you to stagnate your development, fail and repeat the same mistakes again." monologued the Hat. Harry wasn't able to think properly about the implication, his mind still stuck thinking how was he going to get rid of even more of nasty shit in his scar.
"What do you say? Willing to brave new possibilities, to change your past, your future and yourself?" asked the Hat cheerfully, changing his tune. Like something so huge was that easy for Harry.
'... Yes.' confirmed Harry after a while. Was he really going to be talked out of Gryffindor? What about Hermione and Neville? But again, there was that stupid horcrux matter. Would he really want to get near them now?
'By the way, what is your name? Do you have any?' asked Harry, something that was on his mind since the start of conversation. He was trying to shift his mind out of the topic with moderate success.
"Oh, I do have one. My name was given to me by founders themselves: Selectio Iustus. I found it quite stuffing and rather dull. You can call me Set instead. Now. Stop stalling and take it like a man you out to be." Set's tone changed in an instant.
"For the House you will belong for the next years, it better be…" Harry prepared himself. If not Slytherin, Ravenclaw out of a question and Gryffindor discouraged. Was he really going to belong to that house? His memory flashed to his awful 4. year and how this house behaved against him. In that year, Ron wasn't any better. He was probably worse, because other people meant much less for him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He was already planning a lot of changes. What's one more?
"Hufflepuff!" shouted the Hat into the whole hall.
Apparently it was so, no way out of it now. Harry took it in a stride and placed Set off his head and into McGonagall's waiting hand. He wasn't calm at all, but showed no outward reaction of joy or sadness. He trudged to the Puffs table while everyone stared. The room was in utter silence. A cheer erupted suddenly from Hufflepuff's table and everyone was shouting and talking over each other. Even Ravenclaws and Gryffindors joined with some shouts and claps, but much less enthusiastically, muted by the sheer volume of Hufflepuffs. They celebrated acquisition of Potter in their house like crazy. He thought the Gryffindor was a bit much in this direction, but this... It was pure madness.
*boom*
Deputy Headmistress shot a cannonball-like effect from her wand that quickly shut up everyone in the room.
"Be silent. You could chat among yourself once we complete the sorting. Am I clear?" asked ominously McGonagall everyone in the room. Even teachers recoiled from her stare and were nodding along the students. Her left eye twitched a bit, but nothing else showed any expression on her face. If she was disappointed over Harry's placement, it wasn't showing. Dumbledore kept a silent stoic persona, but was stroking his beard, deeply absorbed in thought, looking over the hall. Snape switched between surprised and angry expression at Harry before going blank and looking somewhere else and Quirrell was not so subtly staring daggers at him. Harry quickly averted the gaze and canceled the zoom effect, not trusting his glasses completely to protect him. It was a significant distance to cast passive or silent legitimizes, probably impossible, but why would he risk himself. Fuck this. How was he going to get rid of the horcrux on his forehead and survive that? And how was he going to fool Quirrellmort? He was so not prepared to deal with him yet.
"Rivers Oliver, come in!" exclaimed McGonagall, looking at the list in her hand. She resumed the sorting like nothing happened.
"So Puff like me, huh? Who would have thought back on the train. Pretty good disguise. You had everyone fooled out." Pointed out Megan while jabbing into his arm. She sat on his right. That was all she managed to say. Megan recoiled when McGonagall glared right at her and immediately shut up. Apparently, she figured out that Harry Evans didn't exist and the reason why he wasn't sorted long ago. Not that hard, considering that only 3 boys remained to be sorted. None wore glasses and looked anything like him. Harry threw an eye toward Gryffindor's table and saw Neville's face scrunched up and Hermione nearly jumping in her seat. Yeah, it was a foolish belief to think they wouldn't figure it out now, too. And he can't talk to them about it yet, because he was sorted elsewhere. What a mess. He would have to talk to them sometime later. Damn it. Why did everything have to always go sideways for Harry? Can't he enjoy something in a little while?
It didn't take long for everyone to join their respective houses and sorting was over. Dumbledore was speaking to the masses, assessing his authority. His grandfatherly grandiose persona seemed completely unaffected by everything, but Harry knew him better.
At the end of his speech, with nonsensical words, food appeared at the tables. Harry was grateful. He could finally think about something simpler than the horcrux problem, like stuffing his belly. The sorting made him hungry.
Conversations broke all around him, but Harry mostly stayed out of them, only noting his immediate neighbors.
"Harry, how did you do it, potion, spell?" asked Megan, while loading food onto her plate. Harry knew what she referred to.
"Secret." answered Harry while winking at her. He really didn't know her well enough to share his method of concealing himself. Giving information for free, only to find it later circulating around school, wasn't something he wanted. He still had plans to use it in future weeks, after all. Megan tried to swat his hand in retaliation, but Harry was quicker. His honed reflexes moved it away just in time and she missed, hitting the table. Thankfully, no food was sent flying.
"Gah." uttered Megan in mild pain with fingers covered in a dressing. Angered, she wanted to try again, but found herself drawing more attention to herself. People stared at her, so she changed her mind.
"Stop that. It's very unbecoming of you to try hitting Potter. What has he done to you?" asked a calm voice from his left.
"Nothing." murmured Megan, with her head down while licking her fingers. Other people stopped being interested in the drama and no longer stared at her.
"I thought so. By the way. I'm Ernest Macmillan." said the boy sitting on his left and offered a hand. Harry had no reason to deny handshake and his hands were still reasonably clean as he was yet to grab any food.
"Harry Potter, but you already knew that. Just call me Harry." casually introduced himself Harry. He knew of this boy already as Ernie was part of DA in 5. year, but they were never friends, only acquaintances. Maybe Harry wasn't able to get over their shared past. He most likely had no nice memories of him prior 5. year as he failed to recall any. Harry received slander, gossip and dirty looks for both second and forth year from him. Something like that leaves an impression, even though he turned the leaf later. It wasn't enough for Harry to forget these dreadful years.
"Call me Ernie then." smiled Ernest friendly, while both of them reached for some more food. There was a momentary silence that was broken by Ernie again.
"And who are you?" asked Ernie, flinging his thumb toward Harry's direction, but not quite. There was only one person he could have pointed at who was following their conversation.
"Who? Me?" asked Megan.
"Who else? Would you prefer I asked about the name of an uncouth girl?" asked Ernie mockingly.
"Who do you call uncouth!? You, you bootlicker!" flared Megan and tried to get to him with a mighty jump. In just a moment Harry had nearly full weight of Megan drop on himself as she tried to get past him and pawn a fist onto Ernie. Harry huffed, short of breath, struggling with the sudden additional weight. Even though he gained a girl in his lap he was very far from being overjoyed. She was definitely heavier than he was and his legs felt like pancakes that she was grinding into dust. Harry once again cursed his own feeble physique.
"Megan! Calm down!" shouted Harry near her left ear and touched her shoulder. Megan yelped and scooted back to her seat, seemingly realizing what she has done and rubbing her ear. Her sudden action shot more pain into his already abused legs. He would have cursed her, but thought better of it.
"Haha, that's…" started to say something Ernie while smirking, but Harry was having none of it and interrupted him mid speech. He was already annoyed with both of them. It was like watching bickering children. Or Ron and Hermione back in the days. Same thing. And he was so not going to be in the middle of them.
"You too Ernie. Don't antagonize her. She is Megan Jones if you wanted to know." stated Harry, playing mediator, trying to move on and eat at peace.
"Hmm, Jones you say. Like Gwenog Jones? Are you related?" asked Ernie, seemingly cool as a cucumber. It was a radical change, like there was suddenly a different person sitting there. Nobody would ever guess there was any hostility between them a mere seconds ago. Maybe she wasn't that far about her insult toward him.
"Yes. She is my cousin." growled out Megan, clearly unhappy. Was that because of what Ernie said before, or was it something else? Gwenog Jones. That name was familiar to Harry. Like someone mentioned it to him several times, but who and why? Instead of trying to remember, Harry choose the easier option right in front of him.
"Gwenog Jones, who is she? Should I know her?" asked Harry toward Megan. He almost missed it, but Megan's face brightened up as soon as he asked. What's up with that reaction?
"Nope. No one important." quickly and curtly replied Megan. Ah, now that made sense. She was not fond of her. In fact, she never mentioned her in her talk on the train at all, even though she talked about her brother and sister.
"Ha. No one important. That's rich. How could you say that with a straight face? If they heard you, Quidditch fans would slug you in the face with their brooms." mocked Ernie, before continuing and ignoring the silent rage seeping from a face of Megan.
"Harry, she is captain and beater of the Holyhead Harpies." explained Ernie.
"Okay." said Harry, nodding along. Now that made sense why it was a familiar name. Ron must have mentioned her several times.
"Not a quidditch fan, I take it?" asked Ernie curiously.
"I had no chance to see a game yet. I know it exists, but have seen little past some brooms on sale at Diagon Alley." shared Harry, seeing no reason to blurb more than he has to. He would probably have to play being just a slightly above average flier as well. As much as he loved to fly and play, it would get in a way of his plans for this year.
"How so? Everyone in the wizarding world knows quidditch. Did you live under a rock?" rudely asked Ernie. Harry wanted to answer, but was interrupted from the other side.
"Oh yeah. I was meaning to ask you something, Harry. You said on the train that you were raised by muggles. It makes little sense. You are The Harry Potter, everyone knows about you. How did that happen? Nearly all the wizarding families, including my own, would take you in. Who were you living with if you don't mind me asking?" wondered Megan. She was clearly on fire, because she gave him no chance to answer before peppering him with more questions.
"And why were you playing that red haired Harry Evans character in the train? Or was what you said a lie?" Asked Megan, confused about it.
"No, I haven't lied. I was truly raised by muggles. It was by relatives from my mother's side." said Harry. It was probably good time as any to start talking about it. More people knew, less safe that place was and he could get out of there without trying to wrestle politics against Dumbledore. Sirius was an option, but there was no guarantee his plans would work that well. He could gather support of many of his classmates for his goal to get away permanently. Hiding his home life never improved his situation after all. Not even Albus Dumbledore could go against the mob of angry students and their parents. Oh, he could definitely strong-arm him there, but keeping him subdued was so not happening. Especially after Harry drops his relatives' treatment of him some day when it would be convenient.
"Oh yeah, I think I got it. Red hair and Evans surname. You were hiding in plain sight by picking your mother's maiden name and color of hair, right? Clever. Great way to avoid unwanted attention. Very few kids think past your recognizable name and remember that your mother wasn't born Potter and was in fact Lily Potter née Evans." deduced eagerly Ernie, nodding along with his hand on his chin. Harry had to hand it to him. It quite surprised him he knew about it. It wasn't any genius level of intelligence, but the fact was, Harry totally fooled Neville, Megan and Hermione. For supposed famous person, quite a lot of his classmates knew very little facts about him.
"You are right. I didn't want to lie outright about my name, but also didn't want to deal with any of the Boy-who-lived nonsense. All I ever hear from that ridiculous hyphen is that my parents died that day, not that I was lucky. People bothering me because they read some embellished and totally fabricated stories about me is also something I can't stand." grumbled Harry.
"Ah, so the stories in books were fake? I knew it. Even expert adult wizards would have problems performing all these feats in the books and with having wands to help them. I asked my parents about it and they totally agreed with me." commented Ernie.
"Really? And what makes them experts? The books seem a bit much, but is it really fiction?" asked Megan.
"No clue. I have yet to read any of them and based on covers I have to say I have met no nundu or princess yet. It's ridiculous. I didn't know that magic existed until I was 11 and received Hogwarts letter. I haven't met even single magical person prior Hagrid visiting me soon after, so I'm 100% positive that these books are not about me at all and are just using my name." complained Harry. He really wanted to do something about these books. Perhaps hiring a lawyer after he sneaked out to Gringotts later.
"Hmm. Maybe you could hire a lawyer about the books. I'll ask my father about it." helpfully added Ernie. He was also mumbling something about Dumbledore, but it was too quiet to hear properly.
"You really had no idea about magic until you were 11? That's horrible. I coudn't imagine living like that. How was that even possible?" asked Megan indignantly. She was loud enough that a few more people close to them were listening to their conversation. Harry pushed with his answer despite it.
"I do not know why and how. My aunt said that they found me one morning on their veranda with a letter saying that my parents died and I was their responsibility from then on. My relatives mentioned nothing about magic prior to my acceptance letter at all. In truth, they despite anything with magic and don't like me at all." shared Harry toward several gasps and murmurs around the table. There were more shocked people than Megan and Ernie, but Harry pushed through his discomfort. More this information gets around meant easier time to break from them.
Conversation abruptly ended with that note and all of them started eating more enthusiastically. Ernie promised to look into it, which meant writing a letter to his father, but that was all. Harry was glad about that. He had enough of airing his problems for the day, and he was starving.
When all of them were sufficiently filled and most of the people were just sitting around restlessly, Albus Dumbledore raised up to his feet again. He silenced all the chatting in the hall easily with a wave of his wand. His speech was something Harry knew all too well. The points were the same. Forbidden Forrest, rules about using magic, Quidditch and, of course, the corridor that hosted the room with Fluffy. Harry only listened halfheartedly as it was practically word from word repeat until Dumbledore finished and sent them off to their dormitories. Not without demanding to sing that stupid song that hardly had any proper lyrics, melody and rhythm. Honestly, why haven't they abolished that monstrous tradition already was something Harry couldn't fathom.
Hufflepuff prefects took Harry, together with all 9 other first-year students, toward their dorms. Strangely, to his memory, they were missing one person. With Harry here, they should have 11 students. He shelved that for later research as more interesting sight was starting to reveal before him.
Harry was really curious about it. He had visited Slytherin common room once and was even in Ravenclaw one, yet he never got the chance to see how Hufflepuff looked like. It miffed him that his chance to be with Neville and Hermione was lower now, but that just meant he would have to work harder to get time with them. Different house didn't mean he couldn't see them and be their friend.
They led all of them toward first basement floor with two prefects. The boy was 5. year prefect named Gabriel Truman and the girl from a same year Eleanor Robins. Harry honestly hadn't recognized a single one of their faces or their names in the introduction, but it wasn't surprising. They arrived at the location of a larger storage room. It was filled with many wine barrels, some even had nice carving on the wood. The place looked counterproductive over their function, but perhaps there was no wine and they were purely decorative?
The male prefect soon disrupted Harry from his musing. Gabriel drummed on several barrels like he was a famous drummer from a rock band. He was tapping his wand on various barrels with quick succession and changing rhythm. Eventually, after this short solo, one of the larger barrels opened a door like entrance from a lid. It was a great trick. Much cooler than the moving canvas of a person answering on a password.
"Wow, that's cool." commented someone from the crowd agreeing with Harry.
"This, my dear housemates, is the entrance to our house common room. Remember this location well and don't be afraid to ask any older Badgers from Hufflepuff for help to get inside. Don't be discouraged if you can't remember it for now. This rhythm and wand work took me at least a week until I got it right. We will all practice tomorrow anyway, don't worry." explained Eleanor. It was something that Harry found really interesting and different from portraits or riddles. Also that surname, Robins. Could she be a sister of Demelza? Too bad he had no basis for asking her. Demelza was yet to arrive in school next year and Harry really didn't want to explain how he knew her when they technically never met yet.
"Repeat this sequence and rhythm with your wands, and the door will open for you. You all should do well to remember that sequence and correct barrels. Also, do not share this information with anyone. I repeat, do not share the secret of how to get into our common room with anyone who is not Hufflepuff. Am I clear?" prefect Gabriel urged them vigorously.
"Yes." answered Harry together with all the other first years.
"If you fail that, there is a nasty surprise for anyone who dares to get it wrong. It's a fail-safe against people from other houses." added Gabriel, smirking and winking at them.
"It's worse for non-Hufflepuff. Many tried, and no one succeeded. Ask the Weasley twins about their punishment for trying to get in some time." chuckled out Eleanor with mirth in her eyes.
All of them proceeded inside. First years walking comfortably through the tight opening, but the two prefects had to bow low to get through. Their common room was a sight to behold. Only a few small round windows high above let some natural light into the room. Well. Maybe not so natural now as it was already night outside, but they were apparently above ground, so the room was technically only a half way placed in basement floor compared to Slytherin one. Harry listened as Gabriel and Eleanor switched talking about it. It looked cozy, maybe even more so with the earth colors of brown and yellow and complemented with a lot of plantlife. They weren't listening for long and went with both prefects toward their dorm rooms.
Harry was surprised that the rumor he heard a week or so back was true. There was no great divide from boys and girls. In fact, girls and boys had 2 rooms each and right across from each other in the same corridor. Further along were second years and so on. The floor was quite wast and there was only one set of stairs heading down from there. It was for students from 5th to 7th year.
One room at the boy's side was smaller, with only 2 beds, while the larger one had 3. Harry's own things were already there, together with Ernie's and Justin's. He had yet to speak a word with him. Justin also hadn't left a good first impression, but he get along with him better than with Ernie in Dumbledore's army. Only time will tell if he could get to know them better now without the prejudice and mistrustful looks and words. Harry pushed his things to the bed and laid down as he was. The bed was so soft. Best he has in weeks, maybe months.
As he was leaving, Gabriel told them to meet in the morning and left them to unpack and go to sleep. Harry was having a hard time to do that. He wasn't feeling like unpacking anything, and despite magnificent bed, he couldn't sleep. His thoughts swirled about his future. Too much to do and so little time. Visiting Hedwig soon. Talking to Hermione and Neville. He had to speak with Hagrid too. Visiting library to found solution to how to get rid of the horcrux in his head and so many other things. Harry was kept awake for some time, thinking about his next moves, until he finally succumbed to a restless sleep full of the uncertainty of tomorrow.
Author's notes:
Harry in the house of badgers... I wanted things to change and I will not drag the plot around the same routes again if I can avoid that. Sometimes even inconsequential talk could have far-reaching consequences after all.
I had something else in my mind initially that was dampening Harry's logical thinking skills, but changed it after some input from comments of the readers and did this twist instead. I tried to resolve the "Harry is stupid" comments in the best of my ability in this chapter. Hopefully, it was done well. It was meant to be brought sometime later in the story, but this worked probably better.
I also felt like Sorting Hat is such as underutilized intelligent item/artifact, that I simply had to do more with it than in canon. Having something so amazing to be a glorified bag of holding for Gryffindor's Sword and sort students on their first day at school felt a bit weak. Think about all that knowledge of the young minds Set must have accumulated for centuries. It might not divulge secrets, but nudging person around is probably within its parameters. And from the perspective of Set, it was necessary for Harry to realize this, as it was influencing his mind. We (sort of) knew that if the person doesn't want to go somewhere, the Hat cannot force them. So I had to make Harry accept this change first. As for the name, I don't think the Hat was shown to have one, so Set it is.
Heh, I shamelessly plagiarized a few lines from myself here. If anyone noticed, kudos to you. I'm surprised that with a comparable size, this newer work of mine is getting more interest from readers, twice the favorites already and 4 times as many views. I'm interested in continuing and writing this, so that's probably the most important statistic going for it instead of any numbers.
I have a question about continuity for readers. When did Harry become aware of Nagini being a Horcrux? Was it before or after doe patronus act? It's not really all that important, but I wasn't sure when writing this chapter and want to have the facts straight, if possible.